Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Credit card acceptance is here! The development team took extra time in ensuring that StudioCloud would have the most secure system available. Feel safe in knowing all of your clients data is protected using SSL which is the industry standard security for banks and other financial institutions.

You can now accept credit card payments through your Online Gallery and process them with your own merchant account. In your Basic Suite under Point of Sale (accepted credit cards tab) you can enter what credit cards you accept. When your clients are placing orders online they will be prompted to enter their credit card information. When their invoice comes through to your Basic Suite account just click on the payment section (edit card) to get the number to process.

When creating an invoice in-studio you can choose one of the credit cards that customer has on file or enter a new one for them. Then when processing orders later you will not have to track down a payment from them.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

StudioCloud is excited to announce the release of new cutting edge studio management software for photographers. This new solution has merged the benefits of online anytime, anywhere access with offline on-location capabilities. With its pre-release thousands of photographers have been impressed by its functionality and ease of use and many of them are eagerly awaiting the release of the remaining StudioCloud products.

StudioCloud is providing photographers with customized, user-friendly software that includes client management, scheduling, point-of-sale, reporting, workflow tracking, as well as in-studio previewing and online galleries. Their services automate and integrate all of these photography business processes. StudioCloud enables the photographer to manage his or her company online--anytime, anywhere for a reasonable monthly fee with no upfront investment or costly support packages.

Their online model alleviates common complaints regarding IT maintenance, software installation, computer networking, and the cost of expensive upgrades. This model allows compatibility with both Mac’s and PC’s. Plus, photographers no longer have to worry about data loss or performing data backups because StudioCloud automatically backs up their data for them. For the convenience of photographers, StudioCloud also provides two free products that allow customers to have access to and modify their data without an internet connection.

StudioCloud uses Adobe’s latest technologies including Flex and AIR to create Rich Internet Applications. These new technologies provide customers with a beautiful, dynamic, interface that provides real time updating. StudioCloud’s products only require an internet connection and a browser, which offers instant support and automatic upgrades. StudioCloud is currently showcased by Adobe at http://labs.adobe.com/showcase/air/studiocloud.html

StudioCloud’s streamlined solution gives photographers the ability to organize and streamline their processes which drastically reduces the time spent on management responsibilities and tasks, allowing photographers to stay perfectly focused and framed for success.

StudioCloud offers a 30 day free trial with no obligations. To learn more about StudioCloud products refer to http://www.studiocloud.com

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Just a reminder to try out the new Workflow Manager! It is still in beta but it will automatically track what needs to be done for your in-studio and online orders. You can download it by going to http://studiocloud.com/WorkflowManager.html. There is also a new tutorial at http://studiocloud.com/tutorials/workflowManager.html to help you with the few steps needed to set it up and start tracking your workflow. Let us know if you have any questions or feedback!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Your bookkeeping has been simplified! You can now automatically assign your customers payments to a certain category and account. In the Bookkeeping section of the Basic Suite, when you add or edit a category or account you can now click on a box that says default payment. By having this clicked, all of your payments in the Basic Suite will automatically be assigned to that category or account.

Friday, November 9, 2007

You can now customize the email that is sent to your customers to remind them of their appointment with your studio. If you go to your Basic Suite Calendar there will be a Calendar Settings tab. Here you will be able to choose the number of days before an appointment that you would like the reminder email to be sent. You can also customize the message that will be sent to your customers.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

When you post your images online, you now have the option of putting a customized watermark on them. When posting images from the In-Studio Gallery, there will be a window with four tabs at the top. Watermarking is under Image Options.